


what we leave behind (and who we bring with us)

by tinybox



Series: Rewind (fast forward) [4]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-13 19:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17494163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinybox/pseuds/tinybox
Summary: Cody Jones is five months old when his parents die in a freak accident, leaving him in charge of O'Neil Tech.Darius volunteers to take over the position until Cody comes of age, until then, he must spend all his time at work, leaving no room to properly take care of the child.So the job is left up to Serling, their robotic butler who is Very Not Pleased with this arrangement, but despite that tries his best anyway.Bits and pieces of the world after-or before, the turtles.





	1. Serling was not programmed for this at all

In no shape or form is Serling meant to be a long-term caregiver, especially not one of a child this young. Yet somehow, here he is, standing right in front of what will be his responsibility for an indefinite amount of time, most likely until Cody matures into an adult, which will be eighteen to twenty years from now, give or take.

"I do hope you realize what you're putting me through," Serling informs Cody, "because this is certainly not what I was programmed to do. I'm a butler, not a babysitter."

Cody Jones thoughtfully chews on his knuckles, the other hand tightly clenched around a soft green blanket. He blinks up at Serling, drool escaping the corner of his mouth, eyes already starting to gain focus.  

Shuddering slightly, Serling wipes the corner of the young master's mouth with a cloth napkin. 

"You humans seem to...leak more often at this age." Serling states, as Cody continues to slobber all over his own fingers.   
Serling did his best approximation of a human sigh, which feels appropriate to the current situation at hand.  

(He would be doing a lot of sighing as Cody grew up, and would continue to do so even when Jones was an adult, but Serling had no way of knowing this at the time.)

At seven months old, the young master is already capable of sitting up and is already aware of the world around him. The baby developing forums on various HoloNet sites about parenting seem to indicate that he will be ready for solid food around this age. 

Serling still cannot understand why humans would willingly procreate, a thought which usually comes to his processors whenever Cody spits up his formula all over Serling's carefully polished chassis, or when the infant defecates himself yet again, occasionally while Serling is holding him (why he was programmed with a sense of smell is something he will never understand.)

But...there are moments when Cody is curled up, fast asleep, breathing soft little sighs, and Serling can almost begin to understand why anyone would choose to become a parent. Perhaps these quiet moments of serenity make humans nostalgic, knowing that one day this tiny being will one day grow to become a person of their very own.

Then Cody will wake up and start shrieking, and Serling will take back every thought he had about peace and tranquility paired with a young child. 

 

Child development is very important at this age. Serling does his best to teach Cody the names of various objects around the room, making sure to only use one or two words so the young master doesn't get confused.

"Chair." Serling points at a nearby chair.

Cody, sitting on a blanket Serling placed on the floor, attempts to fit his toes in his mouth.

Serling points at the blanket. "Blanket."

Pointing at himself, he says "Serling."

Cody wriggles, toes already forgotten,reaching for one of the soft blocks that Serling has placed around him. As always, he begins chewing on it, leaving tiny teeth marks around the edges.

"You really should avoid putting everything you see in your mouth. One day you might end up eating something dangerous." Serling gently scolds the boy. Cody gnaws at the block contently, uncaring of Serling's thoughtful attempt at warning him of the various dangers of the world.

Serling brings up a holo-image of Darius. Spitting out the block, Cody tries to grab at the blue light, and appears confused when his hand goes through the image without any resistance.

"Uncle Darius." Serling points at the image.

"Uncle Darius." Serling repeats, knowing that Sir Darius will be very pleased if these are the child's first words, especially if the young master happens to say them in public.

Cody babbles out a string of nonsense. 

As Serling scoops up the child, he responds, "That's exactly right."

 

Serling is not capable of feeling exhaustion, but this must be the closest he can get to feeling that sensation. Cody has been crying for two hours without stop, and nothing Serling does can placate the infant. Any attempt at feeding results in food flying everywhere, ending up in every place  _but_ Cody's mouth. Cody's diaper is not wet, he's checked multiple times, and he's already had his nap. Serling tries rocking the baby, tries playing soothing music. Nothing works.

If Serling wasn't bound by the three laws of robotics, he might have seriously considered throwing himself out the window. 

Cody wails, face turning purple, tiny fists flailing and battering everything they come into contact with. 

The elevator dings. Serling turns toward the sound, hope rising in his circuitry. Sir Darius Dunn is back. Surely he'll be able to help his nephew in ways Serling is lacking.

"So, how's my nephew doing?" Darius begins to ask, only to stop when he registers the screaming.

Wrinkling his nose, as though he has stepped on something particularly foul, Dunn turns around and walks back into the elevator without saying anything else.

With that, his potential backup has left the building. 

Surely, though, Cody's uncle will send in more workers, Serling reasons.

No such luck.

Eventually, the baby wails himself into unconsciousness, leaving Serling covered in baby food. 

 

Cody Jones is five months old when both his parents die in a freak accident, leaving young Cody as the sole heir of O'Neil Tech.

Cody’s parents had made a point to visit all of their factories to make sure the workers there were treated well, and that everything was running smoothly. As heads of their business, they technically didn’t have to do this, but both of them believed in the importance of interacting with everyone, regardless of their rank and station.

It was a cool Wednesday afternoon when the Jones' tour of all the factories was about to come to an end for the day. At first everything went according to schedule. Plans were checked, papers were signed, and safety conditions were reviewed.

Then something went terribly wrong. 

A stray spark near some spilled fuel inside an enclosed space caused pressure to build up and explode, catching everything around it on fire. The flames quickly spread.

In less than two minutes, the building was ablaze. 

Some made it out alive.

Cody's parents were not among them.

 

"Buh!" Cody exclaimed, slamming both hands down on the tray table in front of him, sending scattered cereal flying onto the ground. 

Now eleven months old, Cody is now able to feed himself, sort of. It's a messy process, and most of the food ends up all over his face, but he's picking up skills faster than Serling thought he would.

"Buh, indeed."

"Aba ee," Cody whines, reaching for Serling with both hands. According to the approved calorie intake of children this age, Cody has consumed a sufficient amount of nutrition, and is in no danger of starving to death. So Serling picks him up and places him inside the designated playpen. Cody content with the confined area, began to crawl around, every so often holding up a toy for Serling to inspect.

The intercom crackles, and an image of Darius is projected. "Serling."

"Yes, Master Darius?"

"Bring Cody down as soon as you can. Make sure he is dressed appropriately." The call cut off.

"Very well then. Looks like we're heading out for the day."

It didn't take too long for Serling to dress Cody in a pair of soft blue overalls and a green t-shirt. No shoes, since he didn't feel like going through the ordeal of getting Cody into them. For some reason, Cody has an extreme hatred for shoes and socks, and it takes nearly an hour of screaming and flailing before Serling manages to force them onto his kicking feet. 

Serling takes the elevator down, holding Cody in both arms. Cody appears fascinated by the view. 

When they get to the bottom, Darrius is waiting. "Excellent!" He reaches and takes Cody out of Serling's arms. "We're going on a little walk."

Cody begins whining, unused to being held by a new person. "Very well. Serling, I won't be need your services for the afternoon."

"Very well Master Dunn. Would you like me to give you all of Cody's supplies?"

"Supplies?"

"This bag ought to be be enough to tend to his needs. Serling adjusts the somewhat large supply bag over one shoulder. 

"On second thought, why don't you come along with us. After all, you're part of the  _family."_

"As you wish."

Darrius takes them to a nearby park. No one else seems to be there, perhaps he booked a private session. Cody seems to enjoy the sandpit, scooping sand up with a tiny shovel and making little structures. Darrius actually sits next to the young master, and helps him with the construction. 

Cody babbles nonsensically, grabbing handfuls of sand before carefully sprinkling them back into a small pile. He looks up to Serling for approval.

"Very good," Darrius responds, his voice soft.

On the walk back, Darrius carries the worn out toddler on his shoulders. Once they are inside, though, he is quick to pass Cody back over to Serling.

"Well, I have to get going. Lots of meetings to attend to. I do hope I will be able to see the young lad again soon."

Within fifteen minutes, various E-sites have already posted pictures of Darrius interacting with Cody at the park. 

This is course, is not unusual, given that Mr. Dunn is a very well known man. 

But, something in his CPU drive can't help be wonder if there was a reason Darrius decided it would be a good day to take Cody outside besides wanting the young boy to have some fresh air.  


	2. interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a step back for a bit.

Eloise Dunn lives with her grandmother on the outskirts of New New York City, who she has lived with ever since she was five years old. 

Her gran is a retired professor with a PhD in entomology, which, she informed a wide-eyed six year old Eloise, is the study of bugs. It was through her grandmother that she was first exposed to natural science, something she took to quite eagerly. 

"Observation," her gran often is prone to saying, "is key to understanding the world around you. Pay attention, and you will notice details that most people overlook."

This is a lesson she will remember for her entire life. 

What interests Eloise the most, though, is engineering. Her grandmother becomes used to her taking household appliances apart and putting them together, but she drew the line when it came to her microscope.

At the age of eleven Eloise gives into temptation, and starts taking the microscope apart when her gran isn't around. She doesn't make it far before she is caught, and after a scolding, is sent to her room without supper. The next day, her gran asks, with a resigned expression, to please put the microscope back together again. 

 

In school, she is a good student in subjects she enjoys, and terrible in the ones she doesn't care too much about. Eloise manages to scrape through English with passing grades most of the time, although she has been close to failing, and even though she isn't too good at History she participates enough that the teacher usually boosts her grade up a level.

 

In eighth grade, she joins the Running Club. The first day they meet up, she thinks she is going to die. Her legs feel like lead, and sweat is pouring down her arms and legs.

Everything hurts. 

She keeps going, and eventually gets better and better. Nothing to write home about, but at least she can complete laps without feeling likes she's going to pass out.

At home, she starts jogging around the nearby hiking trail early in the morning, and comes to appreciate the quietness that comes with it, the softness that comes with the rising of the sun.

 


	3. One day at a time

Cody is now eighteen months old, and as Serling predicted, much more of a terror now that he can actually run around. 

"Would you care for some grilled cheese, young master?"

"No!" Cody giggles. While Serling wasn't looking, he has pulled off his pants and shirt, leaving them who-knows-where, and is now clad in his undershirt and diaper. At least he's wearing something, Serling thinks, as Cody is liable to run around butt-naked without a care in the world.

'No' seems to be Cody's new favorite word, besides 'Erling', an attempt to say 'Serling', and 'Raanie', which is the name of his beloved stuffed anteater. 

"Very well then," Sterling says, now used to Cody's new behavior, "I shall give you some peanut butter and jelly. "

"Noooo!" Cody wails, gripping onto Sterling's leg. "Errrling, I don want peanut butter!"

"You may have either peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese."

"Raanie eat grilled cheese?" Cody asks, letting go of Stering's leg and clutching the stained animal with both hands. 

"You may attempt to feed 'Raanie' some of your grilled cheese if you wish, but only after you've eaten yourself."

"Okay."

Cody pulls himself up onto his booster seat, which he had told Sterling that he was too grown up to need help, and sits down without further complaint. Serling serves the sandwich, and Cody eats everything but the crusts.

"Raanie likes crusts." Cody explains.

"Well, isn't that fortunate, seeing as you dislike eating crusts yourself."

Cody beams up at him, wide eyed and innocent. 


	4. Wandering through the city

Cody is lost.

He knows he's not supposed to leave the tower without Serling or Uncle Darius, but he's not a baby anymore, he's almost  _eight_ , and Serling said he was smart for his age, so he should be old enough to go outside without anyone watching him. 

He hadn't meant to get lost either, but with everyone bumping into him, he somehow lost sight of the tower. He'd made a plan of where he should go, but with the view so much different it's much harder to find his way.

There's a tight feeling in his chest that keeps building. If he can't find the tower, he won't be able to go home. Serling will be worried, and so will Uncle Darius if he finds out. Serling will try to find him, but what if Serling gets lost as well? 

He's slumped against the wall of a grocery store called  _Super Duper Market_ and his nose keeps running even when he wipes it on his sleeve, and he should go talk to someone and ask for help but Darius said don't talk to strangers 'cause they'll probably kidnap him, when he hears a voice. Not an adult voice, but a kid's voice like his.

"Are you lost? I can help if you want." 

Cody's head snaps back up. 

There's another boy standing in front of him. He's kind of weird looking, pale like a ghost, with dark black eyes, and his voice is strange too, flat like a can of soda that's been left out for too long. But he's the first person who's asked him if needed help, and Cody doesn't have anyone else to turn to.

"I'm lost," Cody admits, wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve once more.

The other boy nods. "You seemed lost." 

Cody peers up at him, which is very easy to do since he's almost a full head shorter. "Can you really help me?"

"No. But my uncle can."

"Your uncle?" Cody asks dubiously. "Are you sure he won't mind?"

"He won't."

"Alright. What's your name? I'm Cody and I'm seven and three quarters," Cody reaches out his hand to shake just like Uncle Darius does all the time at meetings.

"Hello Cody. I'm Lorenzo." Lorenzo shakes his hand. 

"My uncle has a store down here. He just opened up. Follow me." Lorenzo explains. He leads Cody further down the block and down a corner. 

"That's him." Lorenzo points at a man standing in front of a small building. 

The man, glances up and smiles a half-grin. "Hey Lorenzo. I see you got a friend there."

Lorenzo stares blankly at him.

"What's your name, kid?" The uncle asks.

Cody stares at his shoes, his throat closing up. He should say something. 

"'m Cody," he mumbles, gaze rooted to the sidewalk. What if the man laughs at him?

"Nice to meet you Cody. This here's my nephew Lorenzo, but you probably already know that. People call me Matthias."

"I call him the Old Man." Lorenzo says, his voice still monotonous. 

This information causes Cody's head to snap back up and examine the man more closely. He doesn't look  _that_ old for an adult. His hair isn't grey, it's a bright red color, and he doesn't have a lot of wrinkles either. 

Then Cody remembers his manners, and drops his gaze back to his feet again, face burning. 

"It's a little nickname of sorts," Matthias explains, "Lorenzo came up with it."

Lorenzo faintly smiles, clearly pleased with his nickname choice for Matthias.

"He needs help," Lorenzo informs his uncle, "cause he's lost."

"Alright, I can help you out. Do you know your address?"

Embarrassed, Cody keeps his gaze down, pretending to be very interested in the crack in the sidewalk. 

"Do you have a guardian I can contact?"

"Yeah. There's Serling and my uncle."

He looks back up to see Matthias nod. "Do you, by chance, happen to be related to Darius Dunn?"

Cody nods quickly.

"I have his number. I'll call him and tell him where you are."

 

While Matthias calls Uncle, Lorenzo shows him his collection of HoloMonster cards. He has a lot of them, even the super limited edition ones that haven't been sold in decades. "The Old Man's got a bunch of really old stuff," he explains.

"Woah."

 

Cody's uncle doesn't end up coming, but Serling does, rushing up in a flurry of worried emotion.   
"Master Cody! I thought I told you to wait until I was finished updating! You know you're not supposed to be running around all wily-nilly like that."

Serling turns to Matthias. "Thank you for letting me know where my charge was. I hope he didn't cause too much trouble."

Matthias puts a hand on Lorenzo's shoulder. "No problem," he explains, "it's always nice for Lorenzo to talk to people his own age."

Cody looks up at Serling, eyes pleading. "Can we come back and see them?"

Serling pauses. "Maybe in the future. But for now we need to go home."

Cody sighs. He's not going to see his new friend for a while, cause Serling's probably to ground him for ten billion years or more.

 

 


	5. and then there were fish

Here is how it happens: boy meets girl, girl is accidentally pushed into a koi pond (but doesn't actually mind it that much), boy tries to help her but ends up falling in too.

Standard love story.

 

When their son is born, Eloise looks to her husband and asks, "How old does he need to be before I can bring him into the lab?" Christopher Jones laughs and tells her, "Don't you think you're pushing him a bit too soon? You're going to end up giving him a complex before he's even one month old!"

Eloise Jones, cradling her newborn son to her chest, smiles ruefully, squeezing her husband's right hand gently in her own. "Maybe a little. But you're never too young, or too old, for science. Now, distract the nurses so I can make my grand escape."

"Eloise, you are literally strapped to this bed right now, how are you planning to get to the lab anyway?"

"I'll figure something out," she grins.

"Not until you get some rest first."

"I hate it when you make sense." 

 Cody reaches out, grabs her finger with a surprisingly strong grip. Both of them fall silent, gazing down at their child with a renewed sense of wonder. 

"He's so tiny," Christopher marvels, "I didn't realize babies were this small."

"He'll be a fighter, just you wait. A tiny gladiator in the making."

                                                         

 When they meet, both of them were fifteen years old, on a field trip to a newly reopened park. It had a bit crowded that day, but Eloise had managed to push her way to one of the closest ponds, trusted old fashioned notebook in hand, with an endless ink pen tucked under her right ear. 

(The park had boasted that they were now hosting hybrid koi fish, and she was eager to see how a different species would behave in an artificial habitat.)

At the edge of the water, she happened to look up. There, on the other side of the pond, was a boy her age, dressed in a different school uniform.

Their eyes met. 

And then Eloise fell (she later claimed she was pushed) into the water. The pond wasn't very deep, thankfully, but she emerged from the water covered in pond scum and moss. 

Spitting out water, she cheerfully turned away any helping hands. "I'm alright," she insisted, "This is an excellent opportunity to see how these fish react to another being in their territory."

Seeing that she wasn't in any immediate peril, the small crowd had already begun to disperse. The other teen however, stayed behind.

"How are you going to get out?" 

She blinked up at him, pond water dripping from her glasses, which due to a new sticking technology, had stayed perched on her nose despite the impact of the fall. 

"What do you mean? I'll just climb these rocks."

"They look kind of slippery."

Eloise eyed the rocks around the pond. Now that the boy had mentioned it, she realized how damp and slippery the rocks around the edges looked. "Huh. Did not consider this."

"Do you need a hand?" he asked. "I know what it's like, I fall into things all the time. One time I accidentally walked into a hole in the ground."

"How did you do that?" 

"I was reading a really good book at the time." He held out his hand. "I'm Christopher."

"Eloise. Thanks for the help." She took the hand that he offered her, and carefully stepped on one rock at a time, trying not to trip. But both of them had underestimated how slippery the rocks were. When she was near the top, her foot slid out from underneath her, and both of them tumbled into the pond below with an even louder splash.  

Coughing up water and pond weeds, both of them looked at each other, and after a few seconds started giggling. 

 

(They become fast friends after that, and along the way they stumble into a relationship together. Neither of them are quite sure how it happened.)

Love has a way of sneaking up on you without your notice. Sometimes the realization that  _I am in love with this person, I want them to be a part of my life forever_ is a sudden burst, akin to a baseball bat to the head (but a metaphorical baseball bat that won't cause any trips to the hospital with sudden head trauma.)

Other times the build up is slow, gradual, until you wake up one morning and during breakfast you look over at the other person and think,  _huh, I guess we're in a relationship now, who would have thought?_

This is what happens:

Eloise and Christopher keep in contact through high school, and end up going to nearby colleges only two blocks away from each other.

Christopher graduates four years later, while Eloise works on getting her PhD. They end up sharing an apartment together after their other plans fall through. 

Both of them date other people for a while, but then they look at each other and think, _maybe this can work out between us without ruining our friendship._

 

 

"I don't think I'm ready to inherit the company," he admits to her one night. They're both in bed, her with a biology holotext book rented from the school's library that she's been struggling through for the past thirty minutes.

"Do you want to be the head of the company?" she asks, looking away from the screen in front of her. "Also, can you pass the tissues?"

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

"I want to take over the company someday, I've always wanted to. My parents never pressured me, although I think they secretly want me to take over the business when they die. I just...what if I mess up?"

"You know, you don't have to do this alone. I'll be there too, remember? We can help each other out." Eloise grins. "Just like you can help me with this report. I need another set of eyes to look over what I've written."

"Sure, no problem."

 

  
When Christopher's father dies, O'Neil Tech becomes his responsibility. They end up moving to a penthouse tower, with a brand new laboratory that Eloise falls in love with. 

She spends her free time in there for hours until her husband reminds her that she needs to eat actual food at the dining room table like a regular person, and go outside and interact with actual human beings once and a while. 

While she is pregnant, Christopher bans her from working in the lab until after the baby is born, which she complains about but decides it's worth it in the end.

Eloise finds herself at home by herself with nothing to do, having put her career on hold because she needed a vacation and being pregnant was a good excuse to get one.

So she gardens.

"Dear, what kind of plants are you growing?"

"These ones are the roses, and over there are the venus flytraps."

"..."

"I figured it's good to have variety."

 


	6. Darrius

Uncle Darius is a  _very busy man_ , says Serling, which is why he can't show up all the time, which is too bad 'cause he's the best uncle ever.

"Cody, I'm your only uncle." Darius had bemusedly responded when Cody had informed him of this **very important fact**.

 "Yeah, I know. But you're still the best!" 

Darius ruffled Cody's hair, chucking when the boy ducked out of his reach.

"Unnnnncle!" 

"What, I thought you said I was your favorite uncle."

"Ugghhhhhh." Cody whined.

 

"What have you been up to lately, nephew?" 

Cody beams, showing his uncle carefully drawn blueprints. "I made a new invention!"

"Really? What does it do?"

"It's a remote control headband that summons a remote control right to your hand! That way you can't lose it."

"Very innovative Cody."

"Can you show me what you're working on, Uncle?" Cody begs.

Darius smiles down at Cody. "I can't show you the latest tech we're developing, but I do have some old prototype inventions that were scrapped a while back. Maybe you can take a look at the blueprints and see if you can figure out why they ended up not working."

"Really? And can I see them too?"

"If you can manage to figure out why these inventions were scrapped, then yes, I can show you the few that still remain."

Cody bouncing up and down, practically snatched the offered blueprints out of Darius' hands. "I'm going to figure them out and make them work!"

"I wish you the best of luck."

With that, Cody dashed off.

Serling, who had been watching the conversation, worriedly asks, "Sir Darius, are you really sure that the young master will be safe among these...prototypes?"

"I doubt he'll be able to figure the blueprints out. He's only ten years old, after all."

 

"I solved them Uncle!" Cody shouts, waving the blueprints in the air along with other pieces of paper.

"You did?" Darius asks, "well, why don't you bring them up here?"

Cody hands them over, wriggling with excitement.

Darius glances over the blueprints that Cody had made, just to humor the boy. 

Then he stops. Looks closer. Scans them even more carefully.

"Uncle? Did I mess up? I'm sorry."

"No...you...did very well for your first attempt. Very well. I'm proud of you."

"Really?" Cody beams, his earlier worries forgotten.

"I'm very proud of you indeed."

 

For ten year old Cody, his uncle is practically a hero in his mind. That doesn't change when he becomes a teenager.

Even when Cody gets mad at Darius' insistence that he never leave the tower, even though at times he believes Darius doesn't trust him to make his own decisions, he never doubts that his uncle cares for him, that he is loved. Darius is one of the few people (aside from Serling) who he can count on to be always there for him.

 

(Nearly a decade later, with his uncle in jail for creating illegal weapons, Cody will stumble upon a series of hidden files that seem to indicate his parent's deaths may have not been an accident after all.)

((The role Darius may have played is a secret the man will take to his grave.))


	7. a remote possibility

"Uncle, where do you want me to put this box?"

"What's inside it?"

"I'm not sure. Looks like a remote control."

"I think I remember seeing something like that. Hand it over, I might as well take a look to see if it's the real deal."

"Alright."

"Yeah, I remember this. It was a long time ago. Don't think he ever got it to work."

"What does it do?"

"At the moment, nothing."

"What does that big red button do?"

"That one? Like I said, nothing. He never got it to work, as far as I know. But for nostalgia, I might as well press it."

"..."

"See, what did I tell you? Nothing happened."

"As far as you know."

"...Wait...I think it did do something."

 "What."

"I'm not sure. Maybe it didn't do anything. We have plausible deniability in any case."

"...I think I know what happened."

"Didn't expect it to come so soon."

"What do you think you're going to do?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. Guess I'll have to wing it." 


	8. the boy in the box

It started off as a typical Sunday morning for twenty-seven year old Eliza Rodgers, with an early morning jog around the neighborhood, not knowing that she would set off a chain of events that would change her life forever. 

Usually Eliza stayed within a two block radius, but on that day she felt a bit more energetic, so she decided that she would take a longer route back home.

 

This is what they tell him:

Passing by an alleyway, Eliza hears a soft cry. She stops and looks around for the cause of the sound. It seems to be coming from the alley. 

"Hello?" she calls, but hears nothing but faint whimpering. An animal, she thinks, possibly wounded. 

She heads down the alley, but finds it empty of any living creature. Then she hears the whimper again, and turns.

There's a dumpster halfway down the alleyway, and the sound seems to be coming from inside.

Hesitantly, she opened the lid of the dumpster, grunting under the heavy weight of the lid. Luckily for her, the dumpster had not been locked. Unluckily for her, the dumpster was full of garbage and various forms of waste. The odor sends shudders down her spine.

The crying has grown louder. 

Among the garbage, she spots a relatively clean cardboard box near the edge of the dumpster. The sound seems to be coming from inside the box, which has been taped shut.

 

This is what she found:

There was a baby inside that box; naked and weak, all skin and bones. 

Aside from the infant, the only thing inside the box was a note. 

Written in shaking handwritten was a single word.

_Darius_

 

 

 

                                                        


	9. Cross Contamination

 

If there is one constant to the world, Serling thinks, is that human beings often make very little sense. 

Three year old Cody is, according to parenting forums, "going through a phase." Technically speaking, the young boy has been going through phases his entire life, some more unpleasant than others. 

 

Serling had made Cody some dinner, a meal that consisted of chicken nuggets (that according to the box were meant to be shaped like dinosaurs), baby carrots, and mashed potatoes. This had been a combination of foods that Cody seemed to enjoy, so Serling did not expect there to be any fuss this time.

He was very mistaken.

After making sure Cody was settled in the booster seat, he waited for his charge to start eating. Cody, however, looked distressed. "Serling, the food's all broken," Cody insisted, grabbing onto Serling's right arm. 

"Whatever do you mean, Cody? Your food is perfectly fine."

"But it's con-con-taiment." Cody said, looking down at his plate with worry.

"Did you mean contaminated? I assure you, young master, that this food is perfectly safe to eat. What makes you think it isn't?"

Cody looked back at Serling, gaze serious. "Cause 'ncle Darius said that if stuff mixes together it becomes c-contani-mented and then it's not safe."

"Contaminated." Serling corrected Cody. "And I do believe your uncle was talking about dangerous chemicals, not food."

Cody shook his head rapidly back and forth. "'Uncle says everything is made of chemicals."

 

A strange thought rapidly goes through his processors:  _I want to punch Darius in the mouth._

 

"If I separate your food, then will you eat it?"

Cody pondered the question for a moment. "It can't be the same food, cause it's already contamin-ated, and then the mixed up chemicals will get into my blood and then I'll die."

Serling sighed.

"Cody, your fear is irrational. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I am a robot, after all."

But Cody refused to eat.

So Serling decided to humor the boy, and made him another meal, making sure that the foods were not touching each other.

 

Serling had assumed that this was a one time thing, but it's been six months and Cody has now started screaming whenever two different foods touch. 

 


End file.
